Statute may foil priest's sex case

Of the 29 priests investigated by DuPage County prosecutors since the Joliet diocese submitted internal records to them in April, only one is facing criminal charges of sexual misconduct with minors.

And that case may turn more on legal arguments over the length of time between the alleged crimes and the filing of the charges than on the allegations themselves.

The central question is whether too much time had elapsed to prosecute former priest Fred Lenczycki, 58, based on accusations that he molested three, 12-year-old boys at Hinsdale's St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church in 1984. The legal phrase is statute of limitations.

Prosecutors charged Lenczycki on Thursday, arguing that he was out of the state for much of the time, so the "clock" on the statute stopped. Defense lawyers say that, regardless of that, the state ran out of time to bring the charges. A judge will decide which argument prevails.

"That's the first hurdle we're going to clear in this case," said Lenczycki's attorney, Vincent Cornelius. "If we're right [that the statute of limitations had expired], the case is over."

Prosecutors point to a stipulation in Illinois law that states "the period within which a prosecution must be commenced does not include any period in which the defendant is not usually and publicly resident within this state."

The DuPage indictment notes--and Cornelius for the most part concedes--that the Joliet diocese transferred Lenczycki to St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Naperville, almost immediately upon receiving a report of his sexual misconduct in 1984.

He stayed there for about a month before he was moved to Missouri and then to California until about 1991, authorities said. While in those states, Lenczycki was in various treatment centers and assignments.

He was sent to the St. Louis area in 1991 and resided in Belleville, Ill., until 1992, when he moved his residence to Missouri, the indictment states. He lived in Missouri, serving as a hospital chaplain and helping say masses at a suburban St. Louis parish, until March of this year, when the allegations of misconduct surfaced. He was suspended in April and authorities say he has lived in Glen Ellyn since then.

In this case, it comes down to determining when the statute of limitations starts, said DuPage County Assistant State's Atty. Dan Guerin, referring to Lenczycki's absence from Illinois.

Guerin said he is charging Lenczycki using the law as it stood in 1984, when the alleged crimes occurred and the state did not require a victim to file a police report to extend the statute of limitations. Regardless, he contended, a court ruling on whether the statute of limitations had expired outweighs the issue of a police report.

In creating the stipulation that suspends the statute of limitations if a person moves out of state, lawmakers were saying "a person shouldn't be able to avoid prosecution by moving from state to state," said Steve Lubet, Northwestern University Law School professor.

Illinois law states that the minimum statute of limitations on allegations of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, the charges filed against Lenczycki, expires three years after the alleged misconduct.

Cornelius suggested that he will argue that the victims' failure to file a police report started the clock ticking and that the statute of limitations, under any interpretation, expired years ago.

Statutes of limitations act as a protection for someone charged with a crime, legal experts said. The belief is that charging a person 10 to 20 years after a crime places an unfair burden on him or her to construct a defense.

The state statute of limitations for sex crimes has changed several times in the last 20 years, said Polly Poskin, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, an association of 29 rape crisis centers throughout the state, based in Springfield.

Many of the changes center on requiring a victim to file a police report to extend the statute of limitations, a requirement Poskin's group helped eliminate from the new law on cases of sexual assault and abuse.

"It's almost like, what's the issue here--the offense or the time that has passed?" she said.

"If people understood the devastating and debilitating impact that sex crimes have on someone, then they will understand why it's so hard to step forward."

After surrendering late Thursday, Lenczycki posted $10,000 cash bond and was released. If convicted, he could serve a maximum of 7 years in prison. The minimum punishment is probation. Lenczycki's next court date is Dec. 2.

Keith Aeschliman, a Joliet attorney representing about 20 clients who have accused priests in the Joliet diocese of sexual abuse, said a statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases involving children should be eliminated.

"There's no statute on treason, arson, murder," Aeschliman said. "And, this is the murder of those little kids' souls."